FRENCH CAMP - The San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday unveiled a smaller, more maneuverable robot than its predecessor that should prove beneficial in a number of ways, officials said.

The Icor Technology T5 robot was purchased for $169,000 with money from a 2008 grant, said Deputy Les Garcia, a spokesman for the Sheriff's Office. The robot's size, wireless ability and other technological advancements will allow authorities to deploy the robot on planes, trains, buses and other small compartments, reducing the number of instances where bomb squad members have to physically approach a suspicious device, Garcia said.

"Law enforcement is often faced with situations that are extremely dangerous," Garcia said. "With these new technologies, and with this robot, we have so many capabilities that keep our personnel out of harm's way, and that's what's most important to us."

The San Joaquin Metropolitan Bomb Squad provided a demonstration of the robot's abilities Wednesday outside the Sheriff's Office in French Camp. Members of the bomb squad simulated a number of actions with the robot, dragging a dummy to safety, opening the door of a vehicle and removing a suspicious package, all in a matter of minutes.

"A lot of the parts are able to be changed in and out quickly, so it allows us to adapt," Sgt. Randy Johnson said. "If we have to change our approach to it, we're able to quickly adapt to that by modifying the robot in several different ways."

The robot was operated remotely from a base station that offers four camera angles, giving authorities a better view of the situations they encounter. The robot is also equipped with microphones and speakers that will allow authorities to communicate with suspects and victims, officials said.

The robot was delivered Monday with two large toolboxes filled with hooks, claws, suction cups and other gadgets that can be used for many different purposes, officials said. The robot will be used in addition to the Andros F6 robot that the Sheriff's Office has used for more than a decade, Johnson said.

"The biggest thing with this robot is going to be the wireless capability, the size and the maneuverability," Johnson said. "We can use this indoors and outdoors. It can climb and descend stairs. It can open and close doors. It can get into smaller places that the other one just wasn't able to reach because of the sheer size of it, so this is a big advancement in technology and the capabilities that we'll have with this robot."